Beirut bomb blast kills anti-Syrian lawmaker

A Lebanese soldier gestures in front of burned-out cars after a bomb exploded in a narrow street off the main waterfront in the Muslim sector of the capital Beirut. An explosion killed an anti-Syrian lawmaker and nine others on Wednesday, security officials said. The 65-year-old lawmaker, Walid Eido, was the seventh opponent of Syria to be killed in two years.

? A bomb ripped through a vocal anti-Syrian lawmaker’s car near the popular waterfront in the Lebanese capital Wednesday, killing him and nine other people in the latest assassination of a Lebanese opponent of Damascus.

The blast, a new blow to the stability of this conflict-torn nation, comes days after the government began putting together an international tribunal ordered by the United Nations to try suspects in the killing of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in Beirut two years ago – a move strongly opposed by Syria and its allies in Lebanon.

The slain lawmaker, Walid Eido, was a prominent supporter of the tribunal and a close friend of Hariri. He is the seventh anti-Syrian figure killed in Lebanon in the past two years, starting with the February 2005 death of Hariri in a massive Beirut suicide car bombing. Many Lebanese have accused Syria of being behind the slayings, a claim Damascus denies.

Eido’s supporters quickly blamed Syria for Wednesday’s bomb attack. Hariri’s son, Saad Hariri, the leader of the anti-Syrian majority bloc in parliament, indirectly accused Damascus, saying “agencies of evil” seeking “Lebanon’s submission” carried out the blast.

Lebanon’s majority coalition accused Syria outright.

“This crime is a clear message from the Syrian regime to Lebanon in response to the creation of the international tribunal,” said a statement read by lawmaker Bassem Sabei.

Syria controlled Lebanon for 29 years until it was forced out after Hariri’s assassination, and its Lebanese opponents believe it is seeking to regain domination by plunging the country into chaos.

Prime Minister Fuad Saniora declared a national day of mourning today for Eido and the other victims. He also called for an emergency meeting of Arab foreign ministers and the international community to help in the investigation of the legislator’s assassination.

“Lebanon and the Lebanese will not submit to terrorism or intimidation. We will not surrender to terrorism and we will triumph. Lebanon will survive,” Saniora said in a televised speech Wednesday night.

President Bush – a major Saniora ally – also condemned the bombing and pledged “the United States will continue to stand up for Lebanon, its people, and its legitimate government as they face these attacks.”